[Grades] Grades v. Clippers -- 10/28/2015 OPENING NIGHT

[FaStRmAn]

He had a great game. The only real issue I have with Cousins being parked out at the 3 point line is I'm not really sure how it makes the team better. Why is a superstar providing space and being a decoy for lesser players? Cousins is a rare specimen in the NBA. One that teams usually have to suck and sludge through draft after draft to find, he's a player that can draw double teams. Cousins will draw exactly 0 doubles that far away from the basket. In terms of giving him easy set shots and open shots it can be used effectively but as a standard protocol it isn't going to help this team much if Cuz isn't hitting those 3's and essentially trading 2's for 3's.

Another positive is that it will provide pump fake and drive opportunities, but getting to the rim and finishing from the 3 point line is hard for most guards so that's a lot of ground to cover for a big man. He'll have to be the drive and dish guy in that set, but that still doesn't necessitate double teams from the opposition.

Doug Christie brought up a good point in the post game. He said he still wants Cuz to stick in that 15-17 because that means one good step to the rim, and that's been his bread and butter since coming into the league. Adding that extra step or 2, means 1 or 2 more bodies he has to make it through which also means turnover potential or enough time for teams to rotate over at the rim.

I dont necessarily agree. Cousins drew a double team every time he put the ball on the floor from the high post. Mostly whomever was guarding Rondo would dig back and foul up any sort of successful drive. Its ok if he uses the 3 point shot for show, but I'd much rather see Cuz drawing that doubleteam in the post where he has the opportunity to pass out of the doubleteam and then they move it around the horn for an open shot.

 

[KingsFanGER]

Rondo, KK or Willie and Ben on the floor - Cuz sometimes out at the 3 point line to provide some additional floor spacing.
DC, Rudy at the 4, Casspi, Marco on the floor - Cuz hopefully more in the paint or at the elbow.

No problem with Cuz shooting 3's that way.
Of course Cuz might be more effective at the elbows, because it's only two steps to the basket.
But it's not all about Cuz. Question is, if the team is more effective that way, because the starting unit has more space to operate, when Cuz draws a big outside.
This remains to be seen.

 

[pshn80]

I'll give Ben more than a game he had a solid season last year

Solid, invisible game except for ooopses.

 

[HighFlyingMonkey]

But the argument that has already been presented (in this thread or another) is exactly how I was viewing things. When Boogie is at the elbow his ability to hit that jumper puts him in a position to pump fake and drive. Just two big steps and finish at the rim. But when he's all the way out at the 3 point line I don't see him catching a pass, scoot past a defender closing out too aggressively and rumble all the way to the basket. So it essentially makes him a three point shooter or a decoy. And honestly I think until Cuz shoots a high percentage for a few games in a row I think most teams will take their chances letting him shoot wide open threes for a while.

I've seen this theory bandied about fairly often but that's not actually what's happening on the court.

http://on.nba.com/1WkGHvG

Here are all of Cousins' FGA from last night. There are two instances when he drives to the rim from three point range. Once he gets all the way to the rim and misses the floater. The other time (arguable this is him driving from 3, he catches it from three point range but defender sags off) he attacks Griffin and finishes an And-1. In contrast, he was completely ineffective from midrange, missing both of his jumpers, and trying to drive on DeAndre Jordan and being unable to finish around him.

http://on.nba.com/1kW713R

And here are all of his turnovers. You'll notice one Magic Cousins turnover, a handful of bad passes from the post, some illegal screens. Notice all of the turnovers trying to drive from midrange. An offensive foul drawn by DeAndre Jordan, a couple of bad passes. But not a single instance of Cousins driving from three point range and turning it over. It just didn't happen.

Any other instance of Boogie driving from three point range resulted in a foul on the defense, but unfortunately there isn't a fouls drawn section on NBA.com so we don't know what they look like.

The truth of the matter is that the threat of Cousins from three point range stretches out a defense further and gives more space for Cousins to drive. Closing out on a midrange shooter is far easier and usually Cousins isn't able to completely clear the first defender since their momentum isn't built up traveling so far of a distance. A defender can close out and still harass a midrange shooter's drive. The threat of the three can take that first defender out of position enough (again, because of the distance the defender has to go to close out all the way to the three point line) to give Cousins some space to get into the paint.

There is zero reason to keep the midrange game if Cousins has the three point game. Its a far more efficient shot, takes rim protectors out of the paint for teammates, and gives him a bigger driving lane to get to the rim. And that's exactly what happened last night. Cousins' midrange jumpers were both horrible shots, and one of them came late that basically ended any hope the Kings had of winning. But Cousins took five three pointers, and SportsVU rated all of those shots as "wide open" (meaning there was no defender within six feet of him).

 

[ninjabiscuit]

Looking on the bright side, DMC was only 2 turnovers away from posting his first triple double of the new season.

Yep, that's the www.kingsfans.com version of looking on the bright side, all right.

 

[notoriousBEN3]

Really just hoping that Karl is playing with some different line-ups to see who he likes out there together b/c man, it was puzzling to watch some of those guys together.

What was most concerning to me was that i just feel like we barely ran any plays! Lot's of iso ball or bring it up the court and dump it off to Cousins at the top of the key. I want to see the Rondo that was drawing up plays in the preseason on the clipboard, not just giving it to Cuz and getting out of the way. Cuz will have nights where he'll dominate his opponents at the rim all night, but last night was not the case and when that's not working, i want to see a fluid offense, not just a bunch of guys fighting for a W with individual talent alone. I just want to see us get the ball to the guys in good spots instead of forcing them to make plays. I think that was a huge difference maker - lots of guys got the ball in really poor spots.

Oh and the defensive switching was atrocious. Rondo and Collison did not look good out there together on defense. As soon as Collison switched, he get's scored on. He was just getting punked by old man Pierce last night.

Did anyone see the press conference or hear George's take? It's so puzzling that WCS didn't see any action in the whole 2nd half, and i really want to hear Karl explain that move. Koufos didn't have a great night defensively out there for obvious reasons, but his offense actually looked kind of good, and i think he'll be a stud coming off of the bench for Cuz, i just don't want to see him playing WITH Cuz very often. We drafted WCS to play defense, and oddly when we needed it most, he was riding the pine. Whats the deal George?

 

[Hadlowe]

There is zero reason to keep the midrange game if Cousins has the three point game. Its a far more efficient shot, takes rim protectors out of the paint for teammates, and gives him a bigger driving lane to get to the rim. And that's exactly what happened last night. Cousins' midrange jumpers were both horrible shots, and one of them came late that basically ended any hope the Kings had of winning. But Cousins took five three pointers, and SportsVU rated all of those shots as "wide open" (meaning there was no defender within six feet of him).

That is a galaxy-sized if at this point. Cousins has some touch on his shot, but it would be shocking if a 20% career three point shooter improved by 15% in the course of one off-season. Last night's shooting was a data point that maybe his shot has improved, but there is a significant risk that Cousins is going the way of Josh Smith by falling in love with an outside shot in lieu of punishing opponents underneath the rim.

 

[SacTownKid]

I dont necessarily agree. Cousins drew a double team every time he put the ball on the floor from the high post. Mostly whomever was guarding Rondo would dig back and foul up any sort of successful drive. Its ok if he uses the 3 point shot for show, but I'd much rather see Cuz drawing that doubleteam in the post where he has the opportunity to pass out of the doubleteam and then they move it around the horn for an open shot.

I'm talking hard doubles that generate an open shot, not help defense. The help on his drives also puts him at a severe disadvantage since he's dribbling the ball at about eye level to the defenders around him. In the post doubles can be anticipated better and he can shield the ball. It also allows him to use his passing skills and find cutters.

Yeah, it will help his drives with more shooters around him, and him in the drive and dish as an initiator should be a part of the offense, but that brings up a key issue for Rondo because then how does he fit in? Collison looked like the perfect PG for this team last year and so far throughout preseason and the first game it's looking much the same. The fact is, this team needs Gay and Cousins to be put in a position to shoot or make plays for others out of their own offense. They could be really dangerous if they do that.

 

[SacTownKid]

And if one day he is complaining all over the place and putting up a wild 6-19 game for 14pts 6reb 7Tos and a technical...then it becomes a thing.

When however a guy "has to stop complaining" during a 32-13 night because...really he should be putting up 40-15....not so much a thing.

Actually seemed to be a stats driving complaints aspect to this one rather than vice versa. Cuz was driving in there looking to draw fouls on Jordan as a tactic, and the refs weren't going for it as he got stuffed. Hence, complaint. That was me in old Strato-Matic basketball as I tried to milk Cedric Maxwell's F(2) on a 7 to foul out the other team's stars and just couldn't roll the right numbers.

Not to mention that when he did drive in there, there was no space. There is a correlation between Cousins' frustrations and a lack of room to operate dating back to his rookie year. He had Kosta Koufos and Rondo out there next to him with their defender playing at least 5-7 feet off at times.

 

[Hoovtrain]

My biggest point of contention, other than the TOs, was the match ups on Griffin. When they drafted WCS, Griffin was one of the specific players I thought of in terms of a guy that could be guarded effectively by WCS. I would have liked to have seen him get thrown into the fire last night 1. Because I wanted (and felt he could flourish defending Griffin) to see him go up against a super athletic PF and 2. Clearly nothing else was working in terms of defending him
A side note Rondo at least needs to get a decent mid range/floater shot going or teams are just going to continue to double off of him and pack the paint. It was painful to watch.

 

['89 Kings Fan]

Well we did keep Lauren Holtkamp's streak alive. 0-7 now lifetime.

 

[kingsboi]

That is a galaxy-sized if at this point. Cousins has some touch on his shot, but it would be shocking if a 20% career three point shooter improved by 15% in the course of one off-season. Last night's shooting was a data point that maybe his shot has improved, but there is a significant risk that Cousins is going the way of Josh Smith by falling in love with an outside shot in lieu of punishing opponents underneath the rim.

We might as well accept the fact that Cousins will be hoisting up a lot of three point shots this season. If he is going to do that, I just hope he realizes if the first couple are not dropping, switch it up and not keep putting them up.

 

[kingsboi]

My biggest point of contention, other than the TOs, was the match ups on Griffin. When they drafted WCS, Griffin was one of the specific players I thought of in terms of a guy that could be guarded effectively by WCS. I would have liked to have seen him get thrown into the fire last night 1. Because I wanted (and felt he could flourish defending Griffin) to see him go up against a super athletic PF and 2. Clearly nothing else was working in terms of defending him
A side note Rondo at least needs to get a decent mid range/floater shot going or teams are just going to continue to double off of him and pack the paint. It was painful to watch.

Apparently Karl doesn't feel Cauley Stein is ready to guard Blake, as if anyone else had any success. Last time I checked, Cauley Stein has played three years in College and under Callipari who develops players at a much faster pace than any other school in the nation and he played in the SEC to boot.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Forced crying sessions are irrelevant as long as you play. People need to get over the aesthetics. What was important was that he put up 32pts 13rebs on a .619TS%...and that he had 8 turnovers and got blocked 6 times inside. Complained 5 times or 10 times or 1 time or no times is not a stat.

I'd argue his crying sessions result in him forcing the ball and turning it over. There's no question that his crying sessions are immediately followed by an out of control Cousins. Additionally, it's not doing him any favors with the officials. Two or three of those blocks and one or two of those turnovers might have been called fouls if he were on their good side. But I think the first point is the most important one. His attitude is not a stat, but it affects his other stats.

I'd argue that there is some truth to both points of view. Cousins' indignant, petulant, "I'll show you!" attitude tends to be both a benefit to and a detriment. It most often seems to manifest as a benefit on offense, at least, when he resolves to attack inside. And it most often manifests as a detriment on defense, particularly in transition, or on screens.

Like, on the one hand, you can ask, "Well, he put up 32/13 with his whiny attitude; how much better do you expect the guy to be?". On the other hand, the obvious answer to that question is, "Well, he can start by not giving up the 2-3 backdoors that he gives up every game, just by virtue of him saying "**** it, and taking the possession off, or the offensive putback that he gives up because he didn't bother getting back on defense, because he was too busy bitching at the referee."

 

[funkykingston]

I've seen this theory bandied about fairly often but that's not actually what's happening on the court.

http://on.nba.com/1WkGHvG

Here are all of Cousins' FGA from last night. There are two instances when he drives to the rim from three point range. Once he gets all the way to the rim and misses the floater. The other time (arguable this is him driving from 3, he catches it from three point range but defender sags off) he attacks Griffin and finishes an And-1. In contrast, he was completely ineffective from midrange, missing both of his jumpers, and trying to drive on DeAndre Jordan and being unable to finish around him.

http://on.nba.com/1kW713R

And here are all of his turnovers. You'll notice one Magic Cousins turnover, a handful of bad passes from the post, some illegal screens. Notice all of the turnovers trying to drive from midrange. An offensive foul drawn by DeAndre Jordan, a couple of bad passes. But not a single instance of Cousins driving from three point range and turning it over. It just didn't happen.

Any other instance of Boogie driving from three point range resulted in a foul on the defense, but unfortunately there isn't a fouls drawn section on NBA.com so we don't know what they look like.

The truth of the matter is that the threat of Cousins from three point range stretches out a defense further and gives more space for Cousins to drive. Closing out on a midrange shooter is far easier and usually Cousins isn't able to completely clear the first defender since their momentum isn't built up traveling so far of a distance. A defender can close out and still harass a midrange shooter's drive. The threat of the three can take that first defender out of position enough (again, because of the distance the defender has to go to close out all the way to the three point line) to give Cousins some space to get into the paint.

There is zero reason to keep the midrange game if Cousins has the three point game. Its a far more efficient shot, takes rim protectors out of the paint for teammates, and gives him a bigger driving lane to get to the rim. And that's exactly what happened last night. Cousins' midrange jumpers were both horrible shots, and one of them came late that basically ended any hope the Kings had of winning. But Cousins took five three pointers, and SportsVU rated all of those shots as "wide open" (meaning there was no defender within six feet of him).

First off let me just say that I love the NBA.com site and all of the awesome features they have added. The depth of stats, the compare players feature, the videos of a players shots, rebounds, assists etc for the night are all incredible. Combine that with ESPN's site becoming more annoying and I've gone from hardly using NBA.com to going there first.

That said, of Boogie's shots I only saw one drive from 3pt range. The one where he had to weave between three Clippers. I may have missed the other. And I don't remember other drives that ended in fouls. I'll have to rewatch the game to see.

I was bothered by how many times Cousins had his shot blocked last night. Some of that is obviously the Clippers defense and Jordan in particular but Austin Rivers also stuffed Cuz because he didn't muscle up and dunk the ball. And he had one nice drive from the elbow where he blew the layup. The three point shot absolutely saved Boogie's game last night. Without the long ball he's 6 of 16 for 20 pts instead of 10 of 21 for 32. But this game is also an anomaly. Boogie isn't going to shoot 4 of 5 from distance very often.

There's a reason I said, "rumble to the rim" in my last post. Cousins isn't (and really shouldn't be) a guy that drives to the basket very often from outside the three point line. He's not McLemore who sees a two gap or three gap and can explode to the hoop. Boogie's forays to the basket more often involve euro steps, spin moves, weaves and feats of body control to make up for the fact that he's not very fast or explosive to the cup.

The Clippers are always going to be a tough matchup for Cousins and the Kings because Jordan can cover him in the post and at the elbow one on one and Griffin is always around to give weakside help because he's going to be guarding a guy in Koufos or Cauley-Stein that can't pull him away from the basket. So was exactly the kind of game that would lead Boogie to take long jumpers in the past or now - three pointers. Last night he hit them. What happens on nights when he doesn't?

The reason I liked the Andre Miller trade and why I eventually softened on the idea of signing Rondo was that I assumed it finally meant some easy looks for Cousins. Good post entry passes. More pick and rolls. Drive and dish opportunities. And I saw precious few of any of those last night. And if you rewatch the videos of Boogie's shot attempts from last night I believe it wasn't until halfway through the third quarter that you saw him catch a pass in the blocks and attempt a shot.

Again, I'm not against Cousins shooting threes on occasion, especially as the trailer on breaks as part of the early action stuff (because it also puts him in a position to get back on defense in transition if it misses) but I am very against turning Boogie into primarily a jump shooter. Every team isn't the Clippers and most nights he's still best off in the post. I don't love him at the elbow but I like it better than behind the 3pt line because it does make drives easier for him, he IS historically a much better shooter from that distance, it makes it easier for him to transition to post position if they swing the ball and it gets him in a better position for offensive rebounds.

Cousins made four of five 3's last night AND he had some pretty awful shot selection inside the three point arc. But I'm not ready to say he should only be shooting threes or posting up.

 

[The_Jamal]

I've seen this theory bandied about fairly often but that's not actually what's happening on the court.

http://on.nba.com/1WkGHvG

Here are all of Cousins' FGA from last night. There are two instances when he drives to the rim from three point range. Once he gets all the way to the rim and misses the floater. The other time (arguable this is him driving from 3, he catches it from three point range but defender sags off) he attacks Griffin and finishes an And-1. In contrast, he was completely ineffective from midrange, missing both of his jumpers, and trying to drive on DeAndre Jordan and being unable to finish around him.

http://on.nba.com/1kW713R

And here are all of his turnovers. You'll notice one Magic Cousins turnover, a handful of bad passes from the post, some illegal screens. Notice all of the turnovers trying to drive from midrange. An offensive foul drawn by DeAndre Jordan, a couple of bad passes. But not a single instance of Cousins driving from three point range and turning it over. It just didn't happen.

Any other instance of Boogie driving from three point range resulted in a foul on the defense, but unfortunately there isn't a fouls drawn section on NBA.com so we don't know what they look like.

The truth of the matter is that the threat of Cousins from three point range stretches out a defense further and gives more space for Cousins to drive. Closing out on a midrange shooter is far easier and usually Cousins isn't able to completely clear the first defender since their momentum isn't built up traveling so far of a distance. A defender can close out and still harass a midrange shooter's drive. The threat of the three can take that first defender out of position enough (again, because of the distance the defender has to go to close out all the way to the three point line) to give Cousins some space to get into the paint.

There is zero reason to keep the midrange game if Cousins has the three point game. Its a far more efficient shot, takes rim protectors out of the paint for teammates, and gives him a bigger driving lane to get to the rim. And that's exactly what happened last night. Cousins' midrange jumpers were both horrible shots, and one of them came late that basically ended any hope the Kings had of winning. But Cousins took five three pointers, and SportsVU rated all of those shots as "wide open" (meaning there was no defender within six feet of him).

Once again, the voice of reason.

And for as many bad shots as Cousins ended up taking last night, he still dropped 31 points on 21 shots, which is insanely efficient. Why? Because he nailed his 3s and got to the line 11 times. Once defenders start having to respect Cuz's 3, it's going to get him automatic trips to the FT line, James Harden style. Because it's virtually impossible to stop him from getting to the rim once he gets a full-head of steam. Being out at the 3 gives him that spacing, as you said.

I'm not convinced Cuz woke up with an effective 3 ball off of one game, but I'm willing to wait a month or two and see what his %'s are. If he's around 33-35%, then it absolutely is a shot he needs to be taking.

 

[funkykingston]

Apparently Karl doesn't feel Cauley Stein is ready to guard Blake, as if anyone else had any success. Last time I checked, Cauley Stein has played three years in College and under Callipari who develops players at a much faster pace than any other school in the nation and he played in the SEC to boot.

Karl has always been loathe to play rookies if he didn't have to but I really thought Cauley-Stein would've done a better job on Griffin. He probably would've got backed down in the post but he has the length to still challenge shots. That said, it sounds like the game plan was to let Blake shoot jumpers and not give him lanes to drive or for Jordan to catch lobs. Koufos is better for that role, but the strategy didn't work out last night.

What actually surprised me the most was that Karl waited so long to move Gay to the 4 against Blake. I was really thinking that Karl might start Gay at the PF and Casspi at the SF last night.

 

[Bricklayer]

Because it's virtually impossible to stop him from getting to the rim once he gets a full-head of steam.

Now see that...is dubious. As we've seen over the years with Magic Cuz. He's a remarkably mobile man for a player his size, but he's still a player his size, and every guard or SF in the league is quicker. His edge is against other player's his size. The further away he starts from the basket, the more smaller guys will have a chance to run on over and get in between him and the hoop.

On a properly constructed team of Cuz and 4 Kyle Korvers you could 1-4 flat him against the opposing center at the free throw line and the guy would have no chance as all hsi friends had to hug their guys out beyond the arc. But instead we have Cuz at the 3pt stripe himself, and various bad shooters for guys to sag off of, and even if Cuz beats his own man there are all sorts of guys running over to hop in front of him like land mines, we're basically intentionally creating "Magic Cousins" drives on every possession. The Clips were laying back waiting to catch him like a glove, and they aren't even a good defensive team.

The best thing I saw last night was the reaction when Josh Smith entered the game and Cuz immediately went down in the post to start working him over. Recognition, and maybe some indication the extreme perimeter play was a running away from DeAndre reaction.

 

[KingMilz]

Playing Rudy Gay @ the 4 changed the game in our favor the reality is when the oppositions best player is either a PF/C and we throw out Cousins/Kosta he can rest up on Kosta and smash us on offense. Defensively Rudy Gay actually did the best job out of any of our big''s also he was athletic enough to cover pick n roll's and one on one against Blake did really well (partly due to the fact Blake had to expend energy guarding him.

Rudy has now played against Blake/AD and a few other bigs in the last part last season and the start of now and more than held his own at the 4, the only guy that I remember outplaying him was Markieff Morris who is skill/quickness PF.

Also WCS needs to play he looked more than solid when he played, we need that athletic ability out there.

I enjoyed the fact out bench backcourt showed they can bring us back from the dead and our effort was there but just way to many terrible choices cost us dearly.

 

[Merdiesel]

Cousins camping out on the perimeter played a big factor in his 8 TO's.

It just leaves too much distance between him and the rim. Bad passes, getting picked and offensive fouls are a direct result of that.

 

[KingMilz]

Cousins camping out on the perimeter played a big factor in his 8 TO's.

It just leaves too much distance between him and the rim. Bad passes, getting picked and offensive fouls are a direct result of that.

Did it? Most his TO''s came from the post and forcing around the rim I thought.

 

[Bricklayer]

Playing Rudy Gay @ the 4 changed the game in our favor the reality is when the oppositions best player is either a PF/C and we throw out Cousins/Kosta he can rest up on Kosta and smash us on offense. Defensively Rudy Gay actually did the best job out of any of our big''s also he was athletic enough to cover pick n roll's and one on one against Blake did really well (partly due to the fact Blake had to expend energy guarding him.

Rudy has now played against Blake/AD and a few other bigs in the last part last season and the start of now and more than held his own at the 4, the only guy that I remember outplaying him was Markieff Morris who is skill/quickness PF.

Also WCS needs to play he looked more than solid when he played, we need that athletic ability out there.

I enjoyed the fact out bench backcourt showed they can bring us back from the dead and our effort was there but just way to many terrible choices cost us dearly.

most PFs =/= Blake Griffin

LMA would have no fun at all if Kosta suddenly there. Or WCS for that matter. But Blake's too small and quick.

 

[Sac.Kings]

I think one of Darren Collison or Bellinelli will have to start. We can't afford to have Cuz triple teamed all game long because of our lack of shooting. WCS should be starting as well. My ideal lineup:
Rondo, Bellinelli, Gay, WCS, Cuz.

If Rondo continues to play like he did last night and teams sag off of him to cover Cuz, I replace Rondo with Collison in that situation. Our bench weakens with guard play, but we need more shooting from our starting lineup. No one respects Ben from deep. Marco is a different story.

 

[c-webb1s#1]

I was at the game last night, the atmosphere was incredible! Team looked out of sync as expected, but I suppose that will get better as the season progresses.

 

[funkykingston]

Playing Rudy Gay @ the 4 changed the game in our favor the reality is when the oppositions best player is either a PF/C and we throw out Cousins/Kosta he can rest up on Kosta and smash us on offense. Defensively Rudy Gay actually did the best job out of any of our big''s also he was athletic enough to cover pick n roll's and one on one against Blake did really well (partly due to the fact Blake had to expend energy guarding him.

Rudy has now played against Blake/AD and a few other bigs in the last part last season and the start of now and more than held his own at the 4, the only guy that I remember outplaying him was Markieff Morris who is skill/quickness PF.

Also WCS needs to play he looked more than solid when he played, we need that athletic ability out there.

I enjoyed the fact out bench backcourt showed they can bring us back from the dead and our effort was there but just way to many terrible choices cost us dearly.

I was very skeptical of the notion of playing Gay at the PF spot but he really might be the best option against a lot of teams. I think he was the best option against the Clippers. In fact, there aren't that many starting lineups where you couldn't play Cousins and Gay. If Karl really is going to change the starting five a lot then I think we should see Gay at the 4 relatively often. Back in August I made a list of opposing frontcourts and which pair might be the best Kings starters to lineup against them. Some of these frontcourts have changed (I know the Bulls are actually starting Mirotic and Gasol) but here's what I said then:

ATL: Millsap/Horford - Gay/Cousins
BOS: Lee/Zeller - Cousins/Cauley-Stein
BRK: Young/Lopez - Gay/Cousins
CHA: Zeller/Jefferson - Cousins/Koufos
CHI: Gasol/Noah - either Cousins/Cauley-Stein or Cousins/Koufos (with Mirotic/Gasol I'd go Gay/Cousins)
CLE: Love/Mozgov - Gay/Cousins
DAL: Nowitzki/Pachulia - Gay/Cousins or possibly Cauley-Stein/Cousins
DEN: Faried/Nurkic - I'd probably say Cousins/Koufos and let Nurkic and Koufos bang while Cousins abuses Faried
DET: Ilyasova/Drummond - Gay/Cousins
GSW: Green/Bogut tough choice but I think I might go Cousins/Koufos and force Green to defend a post option (Now I'm thinking Gay/Cousins)
HOU: Jones/Howard - Gay/Cousins
IND: Hill/Mahinmi or Turner - WCS/Cousins
LAC: Griffin/Jordan - hmm, probably Cousins/Koufos
LAL: Randle/Hibbert - Cousins/Cauley-Stein or Cousins/Koufos
MEM: Randolph/Gasol - Koufos/Cousins
MIA: Bosh/Whiteside - hmm Cousins/Koufos? Cousins/Cauley-Stein?
MIL: Parker/Monroe - Gay/Cousins
MIN: Garnett/Towns - Cauley-Stein/Cousins
NOP: Davis/Asik - Cousins/Koufos or Cauley-Stein/Cousins
NYK: Williams or Porzingis/Lopez - Gay/Cousins
OKC: Ibaka/Kanter - Cauley-Stein/Cousins or maybe Gay/Cousins
ORL: Gordon or Frye/Vucevic - Gay/Cousins or WCS/Cousins
PHI: Noel/Okafor - Cousins/Koufos or maybe WCS/Cousins
PHX: Morris or Teletovic/Chandler - Gay/Cousins
POR: Davis or Vonleh/Plumlee - Probably Cousins/Koufos though I'm not sure it matters
SAS: Aldridge/Duncan - Cousins/Koufos
TOR: Patterson/Valanciunas - probably Gay/Cousins
UTA: Favors/Gobert - Cousins/Cauley-Stein?
WAS: Nene/Gortat - Cousins/Koufos

Did it? Most his TO''s came from the post and forcing around the rim I thought.

Boogie's turnovers came from pretty much everywhere last night. In order they were:

1) Bad pass out of bounds
2) Lost the handle on a pass out of a pick & roll with Rudy
3) Bad pass off the dribble
4) Bad pass off the dribble - this one was an elbow catch, pump fake and drive and then a terrible pass
5) Bad pass out of the post
6) Offensive foul (charge on a drive)
7) Offensive foul (moving screen)
8) Bad pass out of a double team

And outside of the first bad pass where I think he was expecting McLemore to cut to the hoop as the defense collapsed the bad passes from Cousins were really bad. Cousins has good vision and can be a good passer but he often tries passes where there's no way he's going to get it past the defender.

 

[HighFlyingMonkey]

First off let me just say that I love the NBA.com site and all of the awesome features they have added. The depth of stats, the compare players feature, the videos of a players shots, rebounds, assists etc for the night are all incredible. Combine that with ESPN's site becoming more annoying and I've gone from hardly using NBA.com to going there first.

That said, of Boogie's shots I only saw one drive from 3pt range. The one where he had to weave between three Clippers. I may have missed the other. And I don't remember other drives that ended in fouls. I'll have to rewatch the game to see.

I was bothered by how many times Cousins had his shot blocked last night. Some of that is obviously the Clippers defense and Jordan in particular but Austin Rivers also stuffed Cuz because he didn't muscle up and dunk the ball. And he had one nice drive from the elbow where he blew the layup. The three point shot absolutely saved Boogie's game last night. Without the long ball he's 6 of 16 for 20 pts instead of 10 of 21 for 32. But this game is also an anomaly. Boogie isn't going to shoot 4 of 5 from distance very often.

There's a reason I said, "rumble to the rim" in my last post. Cousins isn't (and really shouldn't be) a guy that drives to the basket very often from outside the three point line. He's not McLemore who sees a two gap or three gap and can explode to the hoop. Boogie's forays to the basket more often involve euro steps, spin moves, weaves and feats of body control to make up for the fact that he's not very fast or explosive to the cup.

The Clippers are always going to be a tough matchup for Cousins and the Kings because Jordan can cover him in the post and at the elbow one on one and Griffin is always around to give weakside help because he's going to be guarding a guy in Koufos or Cauley-Stein that can't pull him away from the basket. So was exactly the kind of game that would lead Boogie to take long jumpers in the past or now - three pointers. Last night he hit them. What happens on nights when he doesn't?

The reason I liked the Andre Miller trade and why I eventually softened on the idea of signing Rondo was that I assumed it finally meant some easy looks for Cousins. Good post entry passes. More pick and rolls. Drive and dish opportunities. And I saw precious few of any of those last night. And if you rewatch the videos of Boogie's shot attempts from last night I believe it wasn't until halfway through the third quarter that you saw him catch a pass in the blocks and attempt a shot.

Again, I'm not against Cousins shooting threes on occasion, especially as the trailer on breaks as part of the early action stuff (because it also puts him in a position to get back on defense in transition if it misses) but I am very against turning Boogie into primarily a jump shooter. Every team isn't the Clippers and most nights he's still best off in the post. I don't love him at the elbow but I like it better than behind the 3pt line because it does make drives easier for him, he IS historically a much better shooter from that distance, it makes it easier for him to transition to post position if they swing the ball and it gets him in a better position for offensive rebounds.

Cousins made four of five 3's last night AND he had some pretty awful shot selection inside the three point arc. But I'm not ready to say he should only be shooting threes or posting up.

I mostly agree with this post, but it doesn't really address the point I was trying to make. IF Cousins is really a competent three point shooter now (which definitely has not been established; again, see his preseason results), there is no reason to resort to his midrange jumper unless as a last resort. I keep hearing that Cousins' faceup game to the basket is better from midrange than from three, and that's just flat out wrong from what we've seen so far.

I want to see Boogie post up. I want to see Boogie run many pick-and-rolls with Rondo and Belinelli. I want to see him get easy dunks/layups off well-designed plays. I don't want to see Boogie midrange jumpers if he's hitting the three. Its a waste.

 

[funkykingston]

I mostly agree with this post, but it doesn't really address the point I was trying to make. IF Cousins is really a competent three point shooter now (which definitely has not been established; again, see his preseason results), there is no reason to resort to his midrange jumper unless as a last resort. I keep hearing that Cousins' faceup game to the basket is better from midrange than from three, and that's just flat out wrong from what we've seen so far.

I want to see Boogie post up. I want to see Boogie run many pick-and-rolls with Rondo and Belinelli. I want to see him get easy dunks/layups off well-designed plays. I don't want to see Boogie midrange jumpers if he's hitting the three. Its a waste.

I think for me what it boils down to is that what we've seen is only one game. One game where Cousins went 4-5 from outside the three point line and was largely terrible inside the three point line.

If Cousins is going to be a 40% shooter from outside then by all means take a few each game big fella. That's massively improving his offensive efficiency. But if he's going to hover around 30% then it's actually making him slightly less effective AND taking him away from the basket for rebounds and easy hoops. The trade off should be that the team gets better offensive spacing but if teams are content to let Cousins try and hurt them from outside then that disappears.

We'll see how it plays out but while I like him best in the block I still think over the long haul Cousins is better off catching the ball at the elbow and going to work than catching the ball outside the three point line and trying to get action off of that. Cousin's midrange jumper isn't a great weapon. He hits it at a decent clip but really the value of it is to make guys play him close or closeout so he can attack the basket - something he was admittedly pretty awful at last night but is generally pretty good with. I just don't think he's a guy that can catch a shot 24 feet out, pump fake his defender and drive all the way to the hoop consistently. Considering how often he turns the ball over on 12 foot drives I don't want to see him regularly trying to drive 24 feet in halfcourt sets.

Hit the open three if its there when you come down court or when fading off a pick but otherwise work your way closer to the basket Boogie.

 

[VF21]

One thought about Casspi: He played his heart out and was totally involved on and off the court. We have to find a way to keep him on the court at critical junctures IMHO.

 

[Amaranth]

One thought about Casspi: He played his heart out and was totally involved on and off the court. We have to find a way to keep him on the court at critical junctures IMHO.

There was no reason to take him out for the last few minutes of the 4th. I don't get it. Took him out right after he hit the 3 for the lead, and then the Clips went on a giant run.

 

[swisshh]

Rondo's cut to the basket are things others should learn. Casspi is one of the other guys who does this, but Ben needs to have a better feel for offensive flow and see the cuts off of the attention Cousins' draws.